Harry Potter and the Wizard's Grandaughter
by Amethyst2
Summary: Chapter One: Train Wreck. The beginning of Harry's fifth year seems uneventful, except for this new transfer student, until sudden disaster strikes.
1. Chapter One: Train Wreck

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Grandaughter  
by Allison Kling  
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K.Rowling and Scholastic do.   
I DO own Olivia Gardener, and Professor Trait, so please leave them alone.  
  
  
If only Harry had known. If only he had tried to remember the dreams, the nightmares, that had come  
during the summer. After all, they had been strange and scary enough to me memorable, and yet he   
hadn't paid much attention to them. Dreams of green light being cast at him, the smell of something  
burning, a scream, and the rush of oncoming death, being diverted at the last moment... These dreams   
always ended with a jerk, and left Harry in his bed, panting and sweating, as though he had fallen  
from hundreds of feet above his room.   
And yet, the dreams were far from his mind, as he hoisted his trunk onto the scarlet train waiting at   
the station. He was about to go into his fifth year at Hogwarts. As he waited for his best friends,   
Ron and Hermione, to show up, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket to give it yet another   
re-reading. This was the letter inviting him back to Hogwarts; he had gotten one every year since he   
turned eleven; and yet, this one was different.  
The fancy Hogwarts letterhead was still in place. However, instead of the normal letter, it read,  
"HOGWARTS"  
Please R.S.V.P. by owl before August 1st. Your train will be leaving on Sept. 1st from Platfrom 93/4 at  
Union Station. Please find inclosed a list of supplies needed for this year.  
Professor Minerva McGonagall.  
Nothing else, besides the list. Usually, the letter was more polite than that; also, it almost always   
included a small bit about Headmaster Dumbledore. It was just different enough to make Harry wonder.  
"Harry! WATCH OUT!" He heard a familiar voice call out, and turned to see a small, fist-sized torpedo   
flying straight at his face. He ducked, and Pigwidgeon zoomed past him in a giant circle, then headed   
right back at Ron again.  
"Ginny fed him a chocolate bar on the way here," Ron muttered in explanation as Pig disappeared into   
the air above their heads. "He's a bit hyper now."  
"It's great to see you!" Hermione said cheerfully, hugging Harry. Harry was a bit surprised at the   
embrace, but Hermione wouldn't let him comment. "I'm so looking forward to this year! Hopefully we're  
going to be learning the majority of the charms and spells we'll actually need in real life this year,  
and some of the more powerful curses to use against Dark Wizards. It'll be great!"  
Harry just nodded, and Hermione jumped into their normal car. Harry and Ron would have followed, but  
at that moment someone in the crowd of students behind them cried out, "Oh no!" The two boys turned,   
and saw a girl staring down hopelessly at a large suitcase which had just split in half, spilling books  
and other supplies everywhere. She bent down to start picking them up, and Harry noticed, from the corner  
of his eye, a very self-gratified Malfoy putting his wand away and boarding the train. If he hadn't bent  
down to help the girl, who looked about his age, Harry probably would have punched Malfoy's lights out.  
The girl peered up at Harry over the top of her glasses, her arms full of books. "Oh, thank you!" She said  
happily.   
"Sure," Harry replied, pulling out his wand and re-attatching the bottom of her suitcase to the top. They   
both replaced everything back into the case, and Harry helped the girl carry it onto the train. A moment  
later, she was following him into the compartment, where Hermione and Ron were already arguing about something.  
"C'mon and sit down," Harry invited, patting a empty seat as he took his place next to Ron. The girl blushed,  
mumbled thanks, and sat down.  
"I don't think I've seen you before. What house are you in?" Hermione had finally stopped arguing with Ron and noticed  
the other person in their compartment.   
"Oh, I'm a transfer student from Beauxbatons," the girl said quickly. "I'm Olivia Gardener."  
Harry stared at her while she introduced herself. She had darker skin, but her eyes were a very light blue. Her  
eyes were nearly hidden behind her thin wire frames, which she pushed farther up on her nose nervously. Her hair  
was short, only coming below her ears, and very dark, almost black.  
"I'm Ron Weasly," Ron said, holding out a hand. Olivia shook it firmly.   
"Hermione Granger," Hermione said, smiling. Olivia smiled back.  
Harry took a breath. "I'm Harry Potter."  
Olivia grinned at him. "I noticed. But it's nice to meet you." She genuinely meant it. "So, what house are  
you all in?"  
"Gryffindor," Ron said. "We all are. Are you going to get sorted, or do you get to pick what house you'll be  
in?"  
"I'm going to be in Gryffindor," Olivia said firmly.   
"How do you know?"  
"Because, number one, I'm not smart enough or gentle enough to go into Hufflepuff or Raven claw, and I'd drop  
out of school before I got into Slytherin."  
All three of them immediately liked this small girl that they had just met. The conversation soon turned  
to the Quidditch tournament of last year, and they kept talking even as the train jerked and started to move.  
  
The refreshment cart had just left the car, and the four were ripping into their just-acquired chocolate frogs,   
when Olivia dropped hers. Her face had gone pale, revealing freckles that had been unnoticable before, and she was   
clutching the seat with a tight grip that left her knuckles white.  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked her, noticing her distress.  
She leapt up, and turned to Harry with wide eyes. "Hang on to something, fast."  
"What?" Harry started to ask, but a moment later the train jerked so hard that he was almost thrown out of his seat.  
Hermione was thrown out of her seat, and hit the opposite seat hard as the train tilted onto its side.   
Harry glanced out the window, and could see only that the train was currently on the side of a mountain, and was leaning out  
over the cliff, as if its grip on the tracks had suddenly dissolved. Another moment, and Harry was sure that the Hogwarts  
Express, along with all its students, would disappear into the valley forever....  
  
  
  
So, what'd you think? It only gets better as it goes on, so be sure to catch Part Two, titled Suprise Suprise!  
And review please!!! Tell me you hated it, you loved it, you laughed, you cried, you stuffed fish sticks up your nose,  
ANYTHING, just review!!! 


	2. Chapter Two: Surprise, surprise

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Grandaughter  
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling and Scholastic do.  
I do, however, own Olivia Gardener and Professor Trait.  
  
  
Harry felt his stomach flip-flop as the train started to flip over, and   
down thousands of feet into a valley.   
There was a glow of red light outside, and Harry faintly heard someone, above  
the screams and yells of fellow students, yell out a spell.  
Suddenly, the train righted itself without warning.  
The lights all crackled and went out. There was a few moments of silence.  
"Is everyone alright?" Harry's voice cracked a bit. He still felt a bit   
woozy from the sensation of almost falling. He stood up, and shifted his weight,  
trying to see if the car was stable once more.  
"I'm Ok," Ron said. "Grabbed onto the chair just in time. Hermione?"  
"I think I bruised my arm," she admitted. She still sounded frightened.   
"Olivia?"  
There was no answer.   
  
After about five minutes, the lights came back on. A second later, the door  
to their compartment opened, and Olivia entered, followed by a woman who   
looked to be in her thirties.  
"Are you all alright?" The woman asked, her hand on Olivia's shoulder.  
"We're fine," Harry said, watching Olivia. "Where did you go?"  
Olivia bit her lip. "When the lights went out, I tried to find a teacher   
or someone to help," she said. Her face was very, very pale, and her wide blue  
eyes once again reminded Harry of something, he couldn't remember what.  
And even after the woman had left, and the train was moving once more,   
Olivia wouldn't explain any more.   
  
As they arrived at the castle, Olivia tapped Harry on the shoulder. "Please,"   
she whispered, "please don't... don't talk about the fact that I'm an exchange   
student. I don't want to have to answer a lot of questions."  
Harry stared at her blue eyes, beggging him. He hadn't really gotten to know  
her very well yet. However, she was acting like they were best friends already.  
"I won't," Harry found himself saying.  
"Good."  
The atmosphere around Hogwarts was different that year. It was cold, and a   
thick mist rose up over the lake, which did nothing to comfort the nervous first   
years climbing into boats. Harry suddenly noticed that Hagrid wasn't leading them;  
Professor McGonagall was the one directing them into the boats.  
Once they arrived at hte castle, and clambered into the Great Hall, they noticed that  
the atmosphere was more than damp; it was gloomy. Even though Harry had begun to feel  
that Hogwarts was his home, the cold stone walls looked very foreboding and terrible.  
Olivia was hanging onto his sleeve, looking very worried. The four of them sat at the Gryffindor  
table.  
Harry's eyes traveled down the table, noting the abscence of some of his good friends.   
Both of Ron's older brothers were gone, as was Oliver Wood, the Quidditch Captain, and  
two of the team's Chasers. Seamus Finnigan was siting next to Olivia; he gave her an  
appreciative look, and she cast a helpless glance at Harry.  
"This is Olivia Gardener," Harry said, "and that's Seamus Finnigan."  
"Nice to meet you, are you a fourth year?" Seamus asked.  
"Yes," Olivia said, "but I'm ahead of my class, so I'll probably be taking classes with the  
fifth years."  
"Oh, good!"   
Harry gave her a questioning glance. She shook her head, and bent over.  
"Attention students." A voice suddenly cut through the noisy chatter. Everyone looked up,  
expecting to see Professor Dumbledore standing on the platform.  
A jolt went through Harry as he realized that the man standing there was not Dumbledore;  
it was Cornelius Fudge.  
"Yes, students," Fudge said nervously. "Welcome back to Hogwarts. The Ministry has seen fit   
to make a few changes in the way this school has been run, due to some of the," he cleared his   
throat, "suspicious incidents that occurred last year." The Minister of Magic carefully did  
not look at Harry. "I shall be taking over as Headmaster. Also, some of your teachers have  
been replaced. Professor Grubbly-Plank shall be teaching Care of Magical Creatures. The new   
teacher of Defense Against the Dark Arts shall be Professor Trait. And Professor Snape shall  
share his teaching duties with Professor Bakana." Three teachers, one of which, Grubbly-Plank,   
Harry recognized from last year, stood, and nodded to the students. Professor Trait was the lady  
from the train, in her mid-thirties, with a pleasant smile. Professor Bakana was an Asian man,  
who gave a half-bow to the students.  
"But where's Hagrid?" Harry asked his friends in a whisper.  
"D'you- d'you think Fudge *fired* them?" Ron asked, also keeping his voice down.  
"I dunno," Harry replied, staring up at the Minister.   
"Now, the sorting shall begin. Be prepared to welcome your new fellow classmates, houses. I expect  
nothing but the best behavior from all of you this year. I hope you will not disappoint me."   
As Fudge walked of the stage, Harry noticed Olivia's eyes were narrowed, and she stare after the Minister with hatred. Harry could almost understand how she felt: he, too, was angry.   
  
In the next few days, Harry began to see for the first time just how weird this year at Hogwarts  
was going to be.   
The new potions teacher didn't really interfere with Snape's lessons. He just sat back and watched.  
Snape, however, seemed much less inclined to torture students under Bakana's black glare. In fact,   
Snape didn't even take roll call. Olivia seemed a bit nervous as his evil look passed over her, but other   
than that, class was normal. This year they seemed to be studying potions that would physically   
affect those who drank it. First they started with a potion that would change anything that drank it  
into a pig. Apparently, Snape had wanted to test it on some of the students, but Bakana instead held  
up a cage of white mice. Soon, there were bright white pigs running all about. Neville's pig still had  
round ears and whiskers, but Snape overlooked it. Olivia didn't have any problem with the potions.  
Grubbly-Plank's class, though not nearly as interesting as Hagrid's had been, were much safer. They   
started out by reading a whole chapter on the Sphinx, and its habitat. Harry, who had encountered a   
Sphinx only the previous year, was interested in this, but wished that Hagrid was back.  
In a close conference with Hermione and Ron the first night, they had decided that Dumbledore was probably  
taking care of things. Even with Fudge's attempts at what he called protecting the school, they would  
find a way to get Dumbledore and Hagrid back.  
  
Olivia was annoying, Harry decided the second Saturday after they arrived. Whenever he tried to do anything  
with Ron and Hermione, Olivia was always there too. She didn't really have any other friends, and clung  
to the three of them.  
However, having Olivia with him did have its advantages.  
Earlier that day, between classes, he had walked into the common room to find Olivia laying pillows in   
different parts of the room. She smiled up at him, and held up her hand for him to stop.  
Just seconds later, Neville came into the room, carrying a pile of books, on top of which sat Trevor the  
toad. He tripped on his untied shoelaces in the doorway, and fell to the floor, his chin hitting one of  
Olivia's conveniently placed pillows. Trevor flew through the air, and also landed on a pillow only ten  
feet away.   
"I can see about thirty seconds into the future sometimes," Olivia explained later. Harry learned to appreciate  
this ability when several times she saved him from being late for class by steering him away from Peeves,  
or reminding him of trick stairs that he sometimes missed. Olivia herself seemed to be having fun at Hogwarts,  
and even earned some points for Gryffindor before the month was out.  
  
In Professor McGonagall's first class, they started learning how to transfigure people. The professor warned them  
that they were not to practice this ability outside of class, and that they would be suspended if they were  
caught abusing these spells. Then, she turned Lavendar into a cat.   
Lavendar made a very nice cat, lilac colored with light pink stripes. In a few seconds, McGonagall changed her  
back, but the class was impressed.   
However, they had to study the theory of Human Transfiguration first. While McGonagall was writing on the board,  
Harry noticed that Olivia was staring at her book, eyes unfocused. A moment later, she quietly stood up and  
left the classroom.  
McGonagall turned around just in time to see Olivia's retreating back. The professor bit her lip, then said quietly,  
"Students, I have something to tell you."  
They all looked up at her at her worried tone. She stared hard at each of them. "This information must never, ever  
be repeated outside of this classroom." She sighed, dropped the piece of chalk she had been holding, and sat  
on her desk. "You have noticed that things have changed around here quite a bit this year. Well, despite these changes,"  
here she looked very hard at each of the students again, before continuing, "there is a saboteur here at Hogwarts. You   
all remember the near-disaster on the Hogwarts train?" Everyone nodded, and she continued. "Well, someone here is   
trying to hurt some of the students at Hogwarts. We don't yet know who, or why, but be assured that Professor Dumbledore  
knows everything that is going on here, and as long as you all keep your eyes open and your mouths shut, no one will  
be endagered." She sighed. "You are the only class I have shared this with. I should warn you that if Fudge gets wind  
that I told you this, I'll probably be fired as well, and you might be in even more danger than before."  
Abruptly, she turned back to the blackboard. "Now, I want a report on what we covered today, three feet long, to be   
handed in next week," she said, in her normal tone.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged glances. They definitely had something to talk about now.   
  
"So, d'you think she was serious?" Ron asked as they walked along the hallway. Hermione, being the shortest of the three,  
had to trot to stay abreast with Harry and Ron.   
"Of course she was," Hermione snapped, waving a hand. "She wouldn't joke around about something so important."  
"Hey guys!" Olivia called out. Harry groaned inwardly as the tiny girl walked towards them. "What's wrong?"  
"Where were you during McGonagall's class?" Harry asked, suddenly remembering that she had left just before the teacher's   
announcement.  
Olivia fidgeted, looking nervous. "I suddenly realized that I had left my books in the library," she said, hesitantly,   
"and I ran to get them. By the time I got back, class was over."  
"What's our next class?" Hermione asked.  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Professor Trait," Ron said immediately. "Can't wait to see what she's like."  
"I've got to get my books from the common room," Hermione said.  
Olivia started to say something, then decided against it, but Harry saw that she had gone white. Her freckles stood  
out against her skin, and her eyes were wide. The four walked over to the common room.  
There were bunches of students in the common room, both studying and gathering books. But as soon as Harry and the other   
walked into the room, they noticed the terrible smell. It was like something was rotting, only worse.  
"What is that stench?" Harry asked, looking around.  
"I don't know," Hermione said, pulling her robes up over her face, "but it's terrible!"  
Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing shriek from the girl's dormitory, and a frightened Parvati Patil came rushing  
down the stairs, screaming. "There's a dead troll in the dormitory!" She shrieked.  
  
  



	3. Chapter Three: What the heck should I ca...

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling and Scholastic do.  
I do, however, own Olivia Gardener and Professor Trait.  
Another note: THE MORE REVIEWS I GET, THE FASTER I WILL PUT UP THE NEXT PART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
Also, this part is rated PG, because there is very, very mild swearing. Some parts of this will be G, some will be PG. The reason is, I don't like using swear words, but apparently the characters do. I can't stop them. An author can only do so much.  
  
  
Harry stared at Parvati like she was insane. The girl had just run down from the girl's dormitory, screaming about a dead troll.  
"So, that's what that smell is," Ron commented.   
"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice squeaking. "It's not the smell that's the matter! It's how the troll got there in the first place!"  
The two started bickering as one of the other students ran to fetch a teacher.  
  
Nobody wanted to talk about the troll found in the Gryffindor dormitory.   
None of the teachers would say anything. Harry had asked most of them.  
They went into the dormitory; McGonagall, Trait, and Fudge, and had come down a while later, saying that the smell should be gone within hours.  
And Harry and the other students were shooed off to their classes, without another word of explanation.  
  
Professor Trait was standing in front of the class, hands behind her back, pacing back and forth, when the doors opened to admit the Gryffindor students.  
"Welcome," she said, once they were all seated. "This is your fifth year at Hogwarts, and I understand that some of your Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers have been… Shall we say, lacking in their teaching methods?" Her eyes sparkled humorously as she eyed the teens. "Well, this year will not be a very easy or enjoyable class, I'm afraid." She flicked her hair behind her ear, and continued. "I've been commanded by Minister Fudge to teach you something practical, yet non-controversial. Therefore, we will be studying the lives and downfalls of great dark wizards of the past. Please get out your books."  
Starting with Serpensia, the first Dark Wizard, they worked up to about 2500 B.C. before the class was over. It was almost as bad as a History of Magic class.  
  
Ron studied their schedules as they walked down the hall. "Damn, next class is Divination."  
"Ron!" Hermione stared at him. "I know that class is bad, but you don't need to swear!"  
Ron shrugged. "Maybe you're right." But behind her back, he rolled his eyes at Harry. Harry grinned back; Divination, next to Potions, was the worst class ever. The teacher, Professor Trewlaney, was the definition of "pessimist." She seemed to get along semi-normally, but always foresaw dark and dangerous things, especially for Harry.  
They sighed, and headed up the stairs, as Hermione split away from them to take Arithmancy. Olivia trudged behind them, quiet as usual.  
"I wonder what new stupid idea she has latched onto this time…" Harry muttered as they stood beneath the trapdoor with several other Gryffindors.  
They found out as soon as they stepped in the room, because groups of chairs were gathered around several small fires, burning brightly in different areas of the room. The tower classroom, already very warm, was now sweltering hot. However, Professor Trewlaney didn't seem to notice at all.  
"Good afternoon, students. Today," she said, sweeping around the room once everyone else had settled down, "we study Divination through the ancient art of fire-reading." She sat down at her desk.  
Harry and Ron quickly headed to a group of beanbags, waiting for Olivia to join them. To their surprise, Olivia was frozen in the doorway, staring at the nearest fire.  
"Please sit down, so we can begin the lesson," Professor Trewlaney said, smiling benevolently.  
Olivia just shook her head, and looked terrified.  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked her, grabbing her arm. "C'mon, you don't want to get on her bad side, trust me."  
Olivia bit her lip, and followed him over to the cluster of poufs. She still looked very nervous; she was wringing her hands and sweating, and not just because of the heat.  
Harry sank into a bright green pouf, and tried to maneuver so that he could sit up in it. However, the chair seemed to suck him in, so that he could barely move. It took him several moments of squirming and sweating to finally get to a sitting position. Professor Trewlaney was telling everyone to take out their books.  
By the time class was over, Harry's eyes hurt from staring into the flames for the past hour, and his dark hair was sticking to the back of his neck. He glanced over at Olivia, and saw that she wasn't doing much better.  
"What's up with you?" Ron asked, also noticing the tiny girl's state.   
"I- I don't like fire." She said softly. "It scares me."  
  
That night, Harry had trouble sleeping. He wasn't sure if it was after effects from the fire, or eating too many pumpkin pasties just before bed. But he couldn't get comfortable.  
He rolled over for what seemed like the twentieth time, and tried to think of something boring enough to make him sleepy. But all he could think about was the Hogwarts Express nearly crashing… The dead troll in the Gryffindor Dormitory… and that somehow, someway, he felt he was missing the connection between the two incidents…  
He must have falled asleep then, because the next thing he knew, he was dreaming.  
A female voice, only slightly familiar, echoed in the darkness, "Master, I'm so glad you are still all right."  
And then, in the dark room, wherever Harry's dream had taken him, he saw the slitted red eyes of his greatest enemy. Voldemort.  
"What progress have you made at Hogwarts?" His hissing voice, cold and hard, brought back strange, evil memories.  
"They trust me completely." The female voice answered. She started to snicker. "I don't think anyone suspects me. However," the voice paused. "There seems to be some sort of protection around the boy. Everything I've tried so far has been somehow prevented. I suppose Dumbledore has a hand in this, somehow. But I shall try harder, master!"  
"You had better," Voldemort's voice answered. Harry suddenly got the feeling of falling, just like he was about to wake up.  
And then he did.  
His eyes snapped open, and bright sunlight shone in the window of the dormitory.   
And yet, he could hear echoes of the familiar voices, almost as if he had really heard them plotting, planning, laughing…   



	4. Chapter Four: Poela Magneorb

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Disclaimers: I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling and Scholastic do.  
I do, however, own Olivia Gardener and Professor Trait.  
Another note: I'm really sorry that the writing quality has been crappy, but I've had the final showdown scene (which won't be for a few more chapters) in my head forever! This is like the third way I wanted to write this story: the first time Olivia was a Muggle girl living next-door to Harry, and the second time they didn't meet until well into the year. Also, Olivia was going to be a comedian, who told jokes all the time, but somehow that just didn't fit.  
Olivia does NOT represent me in any way except that we both wear glasses.   
Professor Trait's classes should get more interesting in either this chapter or the next. I promise, the ending will be worth it all.  
  
Chapter Four:  
  
  
The breakfast table was all abuzz that morning as Harry walked downstairs to the Great Hall.   
"I can't believe it! It's like one disaster after another," Parvati was telling Hermione. Harry's friend looked very bored; apparently, Parvati had been talking for quite awhile.  
"Did you hear about it, Harry?" Parvati turned to him as he sat down next to Hermione.  
"Hear about what?" he asked, yawning.  
"This morning, one of the suits of armor attacked a Ravenclaw prefect!"   
Harry stopped midyawn to stare at her. "What?"  
"Yeah! It started swinging its sword at him, nearly chopped his head off!" She shuddered. "I'll hate walking past the others, I'd be too frightened! Just staring at it, waiting for it to attack…"  
"Was the prefect alright?" Ron asked, joining in the conversation.  
"Oh, he was fine. He said Professor Trait came out and stopped the thing from attacking with one spell. He said she looked really annoyed!"  
"Well I would be too, if a suit of armor started attacking a student!" Hermione chimed in.  
"Well, that's the thing! The professor was annoyed at the prefect!" Parvati waved her hand. "She gave him a detention!"  
"Why? Did he do anything wrong?"  
Parvati shrugged. "Maybe she thought he was the one who set it off."  
Someone walking by called her name, and she stood up and left.  
"Finally," Hermione muttered, "I didn't think she'd ever shut up."  
Harry stared at his friend at the uncharacteristically critical remark.  
"I'm thinking about what Professor McGonagall said," Ron said in an undertone to Harry and Hermione. "Maybe the same person who put the troll in the dormitory set off the armor, and derailed the Hogwarts Express!"  
"The saboteur!" Hermione mulled over this for a moment. "I wonder…"  
Harry nodded. "It's been bugging me. All these 'accidents' have something in common."   
"What?"  
"I don't know." Harry shook his head. "I just can't figure it-"  
"Good morning!" Olivia chirped, sitting down at the table. She looked at the serious expressions on the trio's faces, and tilted her head. "What's up?"  
"Nothing." Hermione said quickly. "Listen, I need to go look something up, I'll see you in Defense Against the Dark Arts in a few minutes, OK?"  
Harry watched the girl leave. Usually when Hermione had to go look something up, she was on to something important. The second year, she had figured out that the monster attacking people was a basilisk. Last year, she had realized that the annoying reporter, Rita Skeeter, was a Animagus, or a wizard that could turn into an animal. He thought about following her, but decided against it. Hermione worked best by herself.  
  
"Students, please turn to page 153 in your textbooks," Professor Trait said cheerily.   
Harry slid into his seat, trying to catch Hermione's eye to see if she had found something, but she was just staring at her book. (The Lives Taken: A history of Dark Arts and their effects on humanity.)  
"Today's lesson should be interesting to you." Trait set her book down on her desk, and smiled. She always seemed to be smiling; Harry sometimes wondered if she superglued her face into position that morning. "As you know, many dark wizards didn't start out that way. Most grew up in normal families, with normal lives, until something influenced them. Well, today we'll be studying Dark Wizards who were actually part of this school once." Several heads snapped up to look disbelievingly at her. "Well, as you all know, Lord Voldemort was once a student at this school."   
Harry was surprised: few people said Voldemort's name aloud.   
"But," Trait continued, "there were several others who graduated from Hogwarts who turned out to be something other than they appeared. For instance, two hundred and eighty-two years ago exactly, Dalazier Morans, who terrorized the magical population of Arabia for several decades, was a Ravenclaw graduate just three months before he started on his path of destruction."  
She stared at all of them. "Please take notes."   
Most of the students whipped out their quills and notepads; Professor Trait was one of the easier teachers, in that she usually warned them of what would be on the tests and exams beforehand.  
Olivia wasn't taking notes. Harry glanced at her, and saw that even though her expression was carefully blank, her knuckles were white from gripping her textbook so hard.  
"Another famous Dark Wizard graduated from Hogwarts only twenty years ago. Can anyone tell me who that was? She was a Slytherin, and a prefect." Trait said, sitting down on her desk.  
Hermione's hand snapped automatically into the air.  
"Yes Miss Granger?"  
"Persephone Gardener."  
Trait nodded. "Yes, Gardener was one of Lord Voldemort's strongest supporters. She was also one of the best students here." She went on to talk about other students who had become Dark Wizards, and the effects on the world. Trait liked to lecture more than some of the other teachers at Hogwarts, and by the end of the class Harry's hand was cramped from taking notes.  
"What's the next class again?" Olivia asked.  
"History of Magic, remember?" Ron waved a hand in front of her face. Her eyes were unfocused; she barely noticed Ron's fingers wiggling in front of her nose.  
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. It seemed like he had to ask Olivia that a lot, and he never got a straight answer.  
"What?" Olivia stared at him. "Oh. I'm just a bit nervous, after hearing about that suit of armor attacking that kid earlier."  
"Really," Hermione said disbelievingly.  
"Yeah, really." The two girls turned to stare at each other, each expression cold and serious.   
Harry and Ron cast nervous glances at each other; they had never seen a catfight before, but if someone didn't distract the girls, they might get their chance.  
However, neither Ron nor Harry had the chance to do anything, because an unfamiliar and strangely ominous clanking was heard echoing through the hallway. All four of them seemed to realize just what this meant at the same moment, and reached for their wands as several suits of armor, all bearing deadly weapons, tramped around different corners straight for them.  
"Impedimentia!" Hermione shouted, casting a spell at the clanking suits of metal. They slowed down a considerable amount, but they still walked steadily onward.  
"Expelliarmus!" Ron echoed a moment later, and several swords and maces flew out of reach of the things. However, they kept slowly walking toward the four. Every exit was blocked by one of the six or seven suits of armor. They were going to have to fight it out.  
Olivia was staring grimly at the armor. She raised her wand, started to say something stopped, and stared back at Harry. She reached out and grabbed his right arm, and held their two wands together. "Poela Magneorb!" she yelled.  
"Poela Magneorb," Harry echoed, watching in wonder as a dull gray orb formed at the tip of both their wands. It formed a glowing two-foot wide gray orb, which floated a couple feet above their heads.  
The suits of armor started rising into the air. Their gloved hands grabbed at the carpet, but their feet were still pulled toward the orb, until finally…  
All seven suits of armor broke into pieces at once, rapidly hit the glowing gray orb, and fell to the ground.  
At that moment, Professor Trait came around the corner, wand out and ready. She stared at the four of them in astonishment, then turned her gaze to the pile of metal gauntlets, breastplates and helmets.   
"Ah." She nodded. "The Magnet Orb. Nice thinking." She smiled at Harry. "Good job, all four of you. I think this will count as extra credit, hmm?" She then turned away. "Damn suits of armor. I've told Fudge that they're only dangerous, but will he listen? Nooooo." Trait sounded like a whiny kid. She turned and started to walk away, then turned back. "Oh yes, we had better clean this up, hadn't we?" She stared at it for a moment, then nodded to Harry. "You four had better head to your next class, I'll take care of this."  
"Ooooo-K," Hermione said as they walked away. "That was strange."  
"Why? You think getting attacked by bloodthirsty suits of armor while on our way to class is a bit out-of-the-ordinary?" Ron asked sarcastically.  
"Of course I do, but it's not just that." Hermione looked hard at Olivia, who ignored her.  
  
That night at dinner, Olivia and Hermione seemed to be angry at each other. Harry had mixed feelings about this: he didn't like seeing Hermione in a bad mood, but maybe if they were at each other's throats then Olivia wouldn't be glued to the three for the rest of the year. Harry hoped that she would find some new friends- not that he hated being with her, but that Ron and Hermione didn't like somebody new tagging along. The three of them had been best friends for so long that a new person just sort of didn't fit.   
And yet, Harry really didn't mind her as much as he used to. Something about Olivia made him think twice before getting mad or annoyed about her. Somehow, she just seemed to be able to make him laugh, or smile, without trying. Perhaps… He shook his head.  
"What?" Olivia asked, noticing his gaze.  
"Nothing," Harry said quickly. He couldn't help but feel that she knew what he was thinking: perhaps he didn't really want her to have other friends.   
  
  
Author's Note: OK, no big cliffhanger here, but I'm tired of cliffhangers. Don't worry, the next part will be lots more exciting. Hermione tries to reveal something she's learned, and Divination class heats up a lot.   
Oh yeah, should I have Fudge cancel Quidditch? If not, should Olivia make the team? Ron? Hermione? Please review and tell me!!! If I don't get any votes, or it ties, I'll cancel quidditch. I mean it!   
Thanks for the inspiring reviews so far: write more! My ratio is 33 hits to every 1 review, and only six stories that really sucks.   
Thanks!  
Alli (Amethyst)  



	5. Chapter Five: A Change in the Weather

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Chapter Five: Connections  
  
Author's Note:   
Not mine: Harry, Malfoy, Hermie, Ron, Hogwarts, Quidditch, and big explosions.   
Mine: Ollie-girl, new teachers, main plotline, title. Don't touch.  
  
Hermione ducked out of the way of several flying textbooks, and crossed her arms, glaring heavily at Harry. "Listen, just because Fudge canceled Quidditch (Author's Note: I TOLD you! I got NO reviews! Bad readers! Bad!) doesn't mean you have to throw a temper tantrum! You're acting like a child!"  
Ron, who for the last few minutes since they entered the Gryffindor Common room had been colorfully describing the Minister of Magic's upbringing, heritage and species, turned to snap at Hermione. "You're only saying that because you don't care about Quidditch! You even brought a book to Harry's last match!"  
"I had a test coming up!"  
"So?" Ron snapped, and he turned and kicked a nearby sofa as hard as possible. "Ouch! That stupid git! How dare he cancel Quidditch!"  
Harry had calmed down quite a bit during this exchange. "I guess he just isn't really responsible and organized enough to handle the school and Quidditch at the same time."  
"SO?" Ron snapped again.   
Hermione decided to change the subject. "Harry, have you heard from Sirius lately?"  
Harry shook his head. "I sent him an owl at the beginning of the year, but Hedwig came back without an answer or anything."  
"Oh dear, I hope nothing's terribly wrong."  
"OF COURSE SOMETHING IS WRONG!" Ron bellowed. "FUDGE CANCELED QUIDDITCH! ISN'T THAT A SIGN THAT SOMETHING IS MAYBE A LITTLE WRONG?"  
Harry was more inclined to agree with Ron, but decided to keep quiet about the subject of the canceled sport.  
"I'm sure Dumbledore is working hard to get everything back to normal."   
"Maybe we should send him an letter!" Hermione said excitedly.  
"That stupid git!" Ron repeated, stomping about in a circle.  
"Who Dumbledore?" Hermione looked lost.  
"NO! Fudge!" Ron yelled.   
"Are you STILL harping about that?" Hermione shook her head. "It's not THAT big of a deal, is it? It's not life-threatening or anything!"  
The way Ron stared at Hermione told Harry that in a minute it WOULD be life threatening.  
"Listen, we've got that report due on Dark Wizards of Hogwarts for tomorrow. D'you want to go down to the library and-"  
"That reminds me!" Hermione interrupted. "Have either of you two seen Olivia lately?"  
"No," Ron admitted, "I thought she was up here. She left dinner early again."  
Hermione looked around. The common room was almost completely empty, excepting Neville, who was trying desperately to change a doll into a cat, (their transfiguration homework) and several seventh years who were playing Blackjack with Exploding Snap cards.   
"I think something is up with her," Hermione said quietly.   
"What do you mean?" Harry asked. But they would never find out what she was about to say, because the portrait swung open and Olivia came inside, looking breathless.   
"Hi!" She said cheerfully.  
Hermione and Ron both groaned under their breaths.   
The smaller girl looked at both of their faces. "What's wrong?"  
"Nothing," Harry said quickly. "Ron's just ticked off about Quidditch being canceled."  
"Oh, that's right!" Olivia turned to him. "You were the Gryffindor seeker, weren't you? Oh, I'm sorry!" She looked really disappointed. "I was looking forward to watching you play. It sounds so exciting."  
"Yeah, oh well," said Harry. "Well, I'm probably going to go work on that report for Defense Against the Dark Arts."   
"I'll go with you," both Hermione and Olivia said at once. They gave each other dirty looks.  
"I guess I might as well, no use hanging around up here with this lot," Ron muttered, waving his hand at the seventh years, who kept creating small explosions with their game, and Neville, who had engaged the assistance of several first years, who had no trouble with the assignment.  
To Harry's disgust, as they arrived at the library, a large group of Slytherins was exiting, and among them were Draco Malfoy and his two giant lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy had a great fondness for mocking and tormenting Harry, his friends, and all Gryffindors, in that order. In fact, as Malfoy spotted Harry, his usual sneer appeared immediately.  
Malfoy and the two goons walked right next to the four Gryffindors, and Malfoy opened his mouth.  
"Gardener," he said cordially, nodding at Olivia.  
"Malfoy," Olivia replied. The blond Slytherin then continued walking down the hall without saying another word.  
Harry stared openmouthed. Malfoy never, ever passed up a chance to ridicule him; yet, he and Olivia had greeted each other like friends! He was not the only one who had noticed the exchange: Ron was shocked, his jaw dropping to the floor.  
"What was that?" Hermione asked sternly, staring at Olivia.  
"What?" Olivia asked innocently, trotting ahead of them into the library.   
Ron and Harry exchanged glances. Something was wrong here.  
  
Several exciting things happened the next day.  
Christmas was fast approaching, and yet, instead of the usual cheerful preparations for the Christmas Feast, there was just more activity. The teachers were all distracted by something, but they weren't letting on what. Only Fudge seemed to be unperturbed by all the commotion.  
On their way to their first class, they ran across a group of Slytherins again, Malfoy and his friends prominent among them.  
"Hey Mudblood!" Crabbe called out, cackling, as Hermione and the others passed by. "You and your little four-eyed freak friends having fun?"  
Hermione and Olivia kept quiet and so, strangely enough, did Malfoy.  
"You know," Crabbe tried again, worried at the lack of support from his idol, "I'm starting to think the only reason you're so smart is that you can steal the answers to all the tests." Apparently, this spontaneous bit of mockery wasn't Crabbe's best work. Malfoy wasn't laughing; he wasn't even watching. He was turning to talk to some of the other Slytherins. And the Gryffindors didn't look too insulted.  
"Y'know," Crabbe said nervously, turning his attention to Olivia, "you're the ugliest freak I've ever seen! Where'd you get your girlfriend, Potter? The circus?"   
That did it. It wasn't that they felt insulted, but it was the principle of the thing. Both Ron and Harry started forward, fists ready, but, surprisingly, Malfoy beat them to it.  
Whump! The sound of a fist hitting piles of fat echoed in the empty hallway. Crabbe groaned, and fell to the floor, clutching his stomach. Malfoy drew back his fist, and turned to Olivia.  
"That's two you owe me, Gardener," he said coldly.  
"Right." Olivia answered, and walked away. Malfoy walked in the opposite direction, not listening to the hoots and catcalls from the Slytherins, and ignoring the wondrous looks coming from Harry and Ron.  
"What the hell?" Ron muttered.  
  
Later, after Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and after lunch, everyone had a half hour of free time before Divination started. Hermione had Arithmancy at the same time, but Professor Vector was feeling sick, so the class was canceled.  
Olivia and Neville were searching for his Transfiguration homework, which had wondered off somewhere in the common room.  
Thus, Harry, Hermione and Ron were left alone. A gentle snow was falling outside the castle, and most of the Gryffindors were taking advantage of this and starting snowball fights. However, Hermione had something important to tell Harry and Ron, and she didn't want to be interrupted. So, sitting underneath a tree by the frozen lake, she asked them a question.  
"Do you guys notice anything," she glanced around, "strange, about Olivia?"  
Ron sighed. "You mean besides the fact that she and Malfoy seem to be best buddies?"  
"Or that she can see a few seconds into the future?" Harry shook his head, and shrugged. "Nothing much, besides that."  
Hermione sighed deeply. "You are so blind!" She leaned in closer. "Listen. First of all, you met her completely by chance in the train station, right? And then suddenly on the train ride, the Hogwarts Express nearly tips off a mountain. While that's happening, Olivia disappeared, remember?" She tapped Harry on the side of the head with her finger. "She wasn't there."  
"She was finding a teacher!" Harry protested.  
"And then, the next disaster. The troll in the dormitory. Do you remember what happened just before that? Olivia left McGonagall's class early. Then, she suddenly reappears, and there is a troll in the Gryffindor tower. Then, the suits of armor start attacking people."  
"Wait, wait," Ron held up his hands. "Are you saying Olivia is the one causing all these problems?"  
"Well, think about it!" Hermione snapped. "Use your brains for once! When those suits of armor attacked us, it was a big surprise for Olivia, remember?"  
"It was a surprise for all of us!" Harry said sensibly. "I mean, I wasn't expecting it, were you?"  
"No, but do you remember what spell she used?" Hermione waved her finger in Harry's face. "We haven't learned two-person spells yet! And yet she was able to use YOU, Harry, to complete the spell!"   
"I think you're insane." Ron shook his head, and stood up. "Olivia isn't trying to kill people! She's just a student!"  
Hermione raised a finger. "I know. However, remember what Professor Trait said in her class? A Dark Wizard, Persephone Gardener. Same last name! And also, I checked out a list of all the students in the last ten years, and you know what? Another Gardener appeared on the list. In Slytherin. She graduated four years ago. Her name was Marie Gardener, and her description matches you-know-who pretty closely."  
"What, Voldemort?" Harry asked loudly.  
"No, you idiot, Olivia!" Hermione said. "It said she had blue eyes, dark hair, and was short for her age! Just like Olivia!"  
"What are you getting at?"  
"DUH!" Hermione stood and threw up her arms. "Olivia is-"  
"Going to be late for her next class." Olivia's voice came from behind them.  
The three whirled around, to see Olivia trudging up the path to the lake. "Were you talking about me? I thought I heard my name."  
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "How did you find us?"  
"I didn't." Olivia's eyes were narrowed too. "I was walking up to the lake, and I saw you talking. I thought I heard my name."  
Hermione snorted. Harry stared at his friend; usually, she was calm, and sensible. Usually she was the one criticizing Ron's foolish ideas, not the other way around. And yet…  
"Olivia, if I could talk to you in private, I think we have some things to discuss." The tone of Hermione's voice… Was it anger? Disgust? Fear? Or some weird mixture of the three?  
"We had better get back to the castle anyway," Ron said quickly. "C'mon, Harry."  
Somehow Harry didn't feel safe letting those two be alone together, and yet he didn't have much choice.  
  
Olivia never showed up for Divination: Harry was beginning to wonder what he would find if he went back to the lake that afternoon. Unbidden, the thought sprang to his mind: what if somehow one of them had killed the other? Not that he truly believed either girl was capable of murder. And yet, he had seen something in Olivia's eyes that belied her shy manner, something… cold. Tired. Ancient, almost, and yet childish at the same time.  
Harry tried to forget everything Hermione had said; after all, she was wrong, wasn't she? Hermione couldn't truly be insinuating that Olivia was trying to kill people?  
And yet…   
  
After all that worrying, Harry was really relieved to see both Hermione and Olivia in the Great Hall at suppertime.  
"So have you read chapter twelve yet?" Hermione was asking as Harry and Ron sat down beside the two girls.  
"Yeah! But there was something wrong with the assumption made there," Olivia said just as cheerfully. "Oh, hello Harry, Ron."   
"Hi," Ron said slowly, staring at the two.   
Harry echoed the greeting.  
"I really don't think that vampires have been wronged, though!" Hermione went back to the conversation.  
"I left the book up in the dorm, should I go get it?" Olivia asked.  
"Please," Hermione said with a grin. Olivia jumped up and walked away.  
Harry watched her retreating form, and then turned back to Hermione, who seemed to be engrossed in her food.   
"So," Ron said leadingly, leaning toward Hermione. She gave him an odd look.  
"So what?"   
"So, what did Olivia have to say?"  
"About what?"  
"You know!" Ron switched to a hushed tone. "About all the weird stuff that's been going on. You were saying that you think she is causing it all?"  
Hermione twirled her fork in her hand. "Of course not! Why would I say such an idiotic thing?" She turned back to her plate.  
"But you said-" Ron broke off. "You said it! You were telling us all this stuff about Gardeners who have been in Slytherin, and how Olivia hasn't been around when anything happens, and all this other stuff!"  
"Well, can't a person change her mind without her friends berating her constantly?" Hermione huffed, slamming her fork down on the table. "For pity's sake, I don't think she's causing any of it. It's just a coincidence!"  
Ron threw up his hands. "Geez, earlier today you were her worst enemy, and now it's like you're best friends!" He turned to Harry. "What do you think about all this?"  
Harry shrugged. For some reason, he didn't want to think about it. He was still seeing colored spots in front of him because of the fires in Divination, and just the memory of Professor Trewlaney's voice, carefully explaining that those who had fires which blazed up to eye-level once incense was added were in great danger of being burned to death was enough to keep him annoyed and unfocused for an evening. He didn't need Hermione and Olivia's strange new… whatever.  
Hermione finished eating as Olivia returned, toting a rather large book, and sat down in the chair between Hermione and Ron.   
Ron started to ask the small girl a question, then stopped. Olivia looked like she was going to be sick.  
"What?" Ron asked in annoyance. "What is wrong now?"  
"Look up," Olivia said simply.  
The three of them did.  
The magic ceiling was usually enchanted to look like the sky outside. At this time of day, Harry was used to seeing the violet and black beginnings of night, separated from the bright blue of day by streaks of scarlet and gold as the sun went down. However, though there was a golden light shining down in the room, the sky was not blue. It wasn't black, or even purple.  
It was brown. A dusty brown, not quite rich enough to be chocolate colored and not quite golden enough to be the color of wheat, filled the top of the room. Along with the strange color, gray clouds were appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, although Harry knew that they came from just beyond the spell's reach, and were swirling and spinning into a spiral in the sky. It was almost beautiful; however, the howling of the wind blowing those clouds was beginning to echo even inside the protected castle like a wolf's cry at the moon.  
"What in the world-" Hermione choked out, staring up at the scene with wide eyes. Her eyes darted briefly to Olivia.  
"It's a tornado," Olivia said bluntly.   
"Yeah right," Ron scoffed. However, within minutes, the clouds had grown into a huge spiral, which shot down from the sky. It was like looking at a picture, and then putting on 3-d glasses.   
The wind suddenly grew MUCH louder, and the walls of the castle began to shake and creak.  
"What should we do?" Harry shouted the question above the wind.  
"Get to the dungeons! That'll be the safest place!" Ron tried to say, but Hermione interrupted.  
"Geez, you two are such dopes sometimes. All we have to do is use some anti-weather spells." She brought out her wand, and nodded to the teacher's table, where McGonagall, Snape, and several of the other familiar faces were standing and shouting to each other. Their words were lost in the noise, no longer like a wolf's cry, but instead like a train rushing into the station at full speed.  
"Atmos Petrificus!" McGonagall shouted, raising her wand above the table.  
"Atmos Petrificus!" echoed Snape, touching his wand to hers.  
"Atmos Petrificus! Petrificus Cyclona! Firmamenta Arasha Zonerus!" Professor Flitwick was shouting, also raising his wand.  
A moment later, the wind died down, and then stopped.  
Everyone was staring in wonder at the teachers, who looked just as befuddled as most of the students. The sky slowly shimmered, and the terrible brown color was blown away by the wind, revealing the normal night sky.  
"Well, that was exciting," Hermione said briskly. "Shall we continue our discussion in the library, or the common room?" she asked, turning to Olivia.  
"In the common room, most definitely."  
The two stood up and walked away as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary.  
Harry and Ron glanced at each other. What in the world was going on?  
  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Bad readers! I didn't get ANY reviews concerning Quidditch! Oh well, out the window it goes.   
Don't worry, the plot will thicken quite considerably as the year goes on. In the next installment, Divination heats up, a new character is introduced, and Christmas is a little more exciting than the characters would have expected.   
This is part five, and the story will have ten to twelve parts. Please review, flames accepted and welcomed, as well as normal reviews. Thank you!  



	6. Chapter Six: Nemesis

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Chapter Six: Nemesis  
  
Author's Notes: Harry and Co. aren't mine. Olivia is. Don't touch.  
This chapter is rated PG for very mild swearing.  
By dee by, please, please, PLEASE review! I really, really need feedback. If you don't review, I might not have incentive enough to buckle down and finish the next chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!!!  
ALSO: EVERYTHING WILL BE EXPLAINED in the NEXT CHAPTER!!! Woo hoo! I can finally write down the scene that's been playing in my mind ever since I first got this idea! Please keep reading; everything will be explained!   
  
That night, in the darkness, the dream came again.  
Something was terribly wrong. In the dream, Harry knew that somehow he had done something wrong. He had trusted the wrong person, or he had done something stupid, SOMETHING was wrong. The sick, twisted feeling of his stomach felt real, even though he somehow knew that he was dreaming.  
There was flickering torchlight around him. He was in a large room, but he was trapped somehow. And then, the shout came.  
"Avada Kedavra!"  
There wasn't time to think, and yet there was. Time slowed down, as the green burst of light shot straight at his chest, the oncoming rush of death lighting up the room in an emerald flash…  
And then, just like in all the other dreams, it was deflected. One moment it was going to hit him, and the next moment, it was streaming in a different direction.  
The green light exploded.  
  
And Harry sat up with a jerk.  
His face was dripping sweat, and he was breathing hard. His clammy fingers groped for his glasses, and he trembled as he slipped them over his ears.  
He was in the boys' dorm. He gave a silent sigh of relief, then checked to make sure he hadn't woken anyone up. No, Neville was still snoring loudly, Ron was clutching his blanket, fast asleep, and the rest of the room was quiet.  
Harry stood up, deciding that he was too freaked out to go back to sleep anytime soon. He pulled on a loose robe, and quietly crept down the stairs to the common room.  
Olivia was sitting on one of the chairs, staring into the fire. He walked up to her.  
"You're awake too?" He asked.  
She glanced up at him. "Yeah, I couldn't sleep."  
"Nightmares?"  
She nodded. "You?"  
He nodded too, sitting in a chair beside her. He studied the girl for a moment, contemplating.  
Olivia was as small as a second year, but she somehow didn't look that young. She wasn't wearing her glasses, which made her blue eyes seem even more familiar to Harry.  
"Why did you and Ron become friends?" She suddenly asked, breaking the silence.  
"Huh?" He looked at her, but she was still staring at the fire.  
"How did you guys meet?"  
Harry explained how they had met in the train station on their way to their first year at Hogwarts.   
"And we've been best friends ever since," Harry concluded.   
Olivia smiled, a rueful smile. "You're really lucky, to have friends like Ron and Hermione. I think they'd give their lives for you."  
He blinked. "Well, I'd give my life to save them, too. We're really close, you know." He watched her for a moment. "Don't you have a friend like that? From your old school, or somewhere else? Everyone has a best friend, after all. Somebody that they'd die for, that they enjoy spending time with, that they know better than anyone else. Don't you have someone like that?"  
Olivia didn't seem to hear the question at first. Then, she turned her head toward him. "No," she mouthed silently.  
The two of them watched as, slowly and gently, the sun came up, and the fire died away.  
  
The halls were nearly empty after breakfast, because most of the students at Hogwarts had returned home for their Christmas vacation. Harry was still there, because his "family" at home refused to let him come back during the holiday. Ron stayed because it was easier on his mother for him to stay. Usually Hermione went home, but this year she had chosen to stay behind too.  
"Olivia asked me to," was her only explanation.  
She and Olivia had apparently become the best of friends. At every spare moment, they were talking and whispering to each other.   
As the four were walking to Potions class, they saw Minister Fudge standing in the hall next to a stone statue of Weldric Drassle. The statue was missing its head and the left half of its body: Harry was never sure if this was because the statue was broken, or because of Drassle's reputation as the first person to ever attempt to tame a dragon to eat from his hand. Fudge was chatting with a very tall slender man who was holding a suitcase in one hand. On his other shoulder he carried a tote bag filled with large scrolls.  
"Yes, it will be very interesting to my publisher to have an interview from you included," the man was saying to Fudge, who beamed proudly, as Harry walked past. Olivia stepped up to the two of them.  
"Who are you?" Olivia asked the man, ignoring Fudge's dark glare. The man turned to her. He had a long mustache that trailed past his chin and curled into loops at the ends. His head was almost bald; he had two tufts of white hair just above his ears.  
"Oh, hello little girl," the man said kindly. "I'm writing a book on Hogwarts. Sort of a sequel to 'Hogwarts: A History' you see."  
"Yes, yes, now run along to your classes now," Fudge said quickly, trying to shoo them away.  
Olivia reluctantly let herself be shoved out of the way by the minister's forceful proddings, but she stared over her shoulder at the two as they walked down the hall.  
"Writing a book on Hogwarts?" Hermione's eyes were gleaming. "That will be fantastic! I've always wanted to hear an objective modern view on this place!"  
Harry was disgusted. "Geez, Hermione, you're a student here! What else do you think you need to know about this place?"  
But Ron was excited too. "Maybe he'll want to include interviews with the students!" Ron's eyes were clouded with visions of fame and fortune.   
"He won't want to interview you." Olivia said coldly. "He might want to interview Harry, because he's so famous, and he might want to interview m- McGonagall, because she's been here a while, but he won't interview any of the other students."  
That annoyed Ron. "Well, maybe he will! Since when are you so smart, anyway?" He started walking backwards so that he could face Olivia as they walked.  
She shook her head. "Common sense, Ron. Get some."  
Harry watched her, wondering at the uncharacteristically cynical response.  
Hermione noticed too. "Olivia?"  
Ron sighed in disgust. "Come on, let's just hurry up. If we're late for Potions, then Snape'll kill us for sure." He turned back around and started walking faster.  
Olivia turned to Hermione, eyes wide. "It's falling apart," she said in an undertone. Harry tried to act as if he wasn't listening, but the tone of her voice was so serious that he had to pay attention. "It will be tonight, if ever. Be on guard."  
Hermione nodded wisely, then glanced at Harry. He trotted a little faster to catch up with Ron.  
Ron glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "I don't trust her."  
"Who, Hermione?" Harry asked, but he knew what Ron meant.  
"No, Olivia. I think something is seriously wrong with her."  
Harry shook his head. "I think she's just lonely, and the stuff that's been happening around Hogwarts lately is scaring her."  
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Sure. Whatever you say."  
Harry was about to demand of his best friend just what that comment had meant, but they arrived at the stairs to the dungeons, and Ron took them two at a time. By the time he caught up with Ron again, they had reached the classroom.  
Professor Bakana bowed to them as they walked inside, his narrow eyes gleaming as he smiled. Snape was wearing his usual glower, as he pouted behind his desk.  
This was NOT going to be a good class.  
  
As they climbed the ladder to the attic classroom of Divination, Harry could hear Professor Trewlaney chatting with someone. The trapdoor swung open above them, and as the Gryffindor students climbed into the room, they saw that Professor Trait had been talking with the eccentric professor.  
"Well, I'll see you after class then, Sybil?"  
"Yes, Brumhilde, of course." Trewlaney waved as the other professor climbed down the ladder. She gave the class a triumphant smile. "Professor Trait was coming to me for a fire reading."  
Harry sank down into a pouf near the front of the class, and faced the fire in front of him with more than a little frustration. The warm room was a nice change from the cold and slimy dungeon Potions classroom, but he still wished that he could be somewhere, anywhere else.  
Ron sat in a pouf next to him, and Olivia sat down somewhere behind him.  
"Now, today class, we will-" Trewlaney stopped. She stared into the fire in front of her, where her desk used to be, and pushed her glasses further up on her nose. "Dear oh dear, the flames are predicting something terrible! Everyone please quiet down, so that I can meditate on this," she said in her eeriest, foggiest voice, as she sank into a lotus position on the floor.  
Harry closed his eyes, deciding that it would be safe to doze while Trewlaney was "meditating." Suddenly, she spoke.  
"Dear oh dear." She stood slowly, her many beaded necklaces rattling. "The flames seem to show an enemy being revealed. The fire has informed me that someone once thought a friend will prove to be a terrible foe, and will be revealed very, very soon!" She stared down her nose at Harry, who shrugged and looked away. Looking very miffed, Trewlaney turned around to collect a basket of incense off her shelf.  
"Now-" she was saying, when suddenly Harry felt two hands grab his shoulders, hard.  
With a mighty tug, someone pulled Harry backwards out of his pouf, and he hit the floor with a bump. He tried to scramble to his feet, but whoever had hold of his shoulders was yanking him backwards. He saw Ron spring up, wand out, and leap over the beanbags, and a moment later the deathgrip on his shoulders was lifted.  
He was sitting on the floor, and he leaned back to see who had grabbed him.  
It was Olivia.  
"What the hell was that for?" Ron demanded angrily, wand pointing straight at Olivia's chest.  
"My dear child-" Trewlaney started to say, when-  
WHUMPF. With a flare of heat and a huge noise, the pouf Harry had been sitting in exploded. Everyone turned away from Harry to watch as the beanbag flamed for a moment. Seconds later, with a hiss, the floor was covered in ash, and the chair was completely gone.  
Olivia was watching it with a resolute look. Nobody moved for a moment: the room was quiet. Smoke that had risen from the momentary explosion drifted to the ceiling, bringing an awful smell with it.  
"Good God!" Trewlaney choked out before fainting against the back wall with a crash.  
Olivia jerked out of the way of Ron's wand, gave him a dirty look, then stomped down the ladder, slamming the trapdoor closed with a bang that made everyone jump.  
All eyes turned to look at Harry, as he stared at the pile of ashes which could have very well included him, had Olivia been a moment later. His brain seemed frozen- he couldn't think of any reason that this had happened. The question echoed in his brain without a response: Why?  
  
Surprisingly enough, none of the teachers had any questions for him about this incident. McGonagall patted him on the shoulder as she walked past, and Trewlaney gave him an evil glare as if it had been his fault, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary happened.  
He didn't see Olivia again until just before dinner.  
He was walking past the Transfiguration classroom in search of Ron or Hermione when he heard someone speaking very harshly and loudly. He swung open the door to see Ron and Olivia glaring daggers at each other. Ron's back was to the door.  
"All I want to know is how did you know that the chair was going to blow up!" Ron shouted.  
"I've already told you!" Olivia shouted back. She sounded as if she was about to cry. "I can see a few seconds into the future! You should be thanking me, not yelling at me!"  
"That's a bunch of crap," Ron spat.   
"Oh, hi Harry," Olivia said, smiling at him over Ron's shoulder as if nothing was wrong.  
"Yeah, right! You're just trying to make me think that he's behind me, so that I'll turn around! Are you going to try and curse me or something?" Ron asked scornfully.  
Harry cleared his throat, and Ron whirled around. He turned bright red. "Oh, hullo Harry."  
Olivia turned back to Ron. "I don't know what you want me to say. I've tried to explain to you, but you won't listen." She turned back to Harry. "I'm going up to the library. See you later." She waltzed out.  
"What is going on here?" Harry asked sternly.  
Ron scowled at Harry. "I'm trying to find out what the hell is wrong with her.  
"What do you mean?" Harry asked indignantly. "She saved my life, after all."   
Hermione walked in the door. "You wanted to meet me, Ron?" She smiled. "Oh, Harry, you're here too. What's this all about?"  
Ron scowled even harder at her cheerfulness. "Listen, I wanted to ask you and Harry a few questions."  
"Like what?" Both Hermione and Harry spoke at the same time.  
"Like why you guys trust Olivia so much, when it's so obvious that she's the saboteur."  
Hermione scoffed. "Olivia isn't the saboteur. I thought you said she saved Harry's life. And didn't she save us from the suits of armor?"  
Harry looked back to Ron, sure that he would have an argument for this. He did.  
"She was just doing that to keep up appearances and to save her own skin!" He threw up his arms. "Geez, Hermione, I think she must have bewitched you or something! Why can't you see?"  
Harry turned to Ron, and started to say something, but changed his mind. After a moment, he decided that it had better be said. "Ron, I think you just want to suspect Olivia."  
Ron blinked. "Just what do you mean by that?"  
Harry shrugged. "I dunno. I guess you're just jealous of her or something, but you're really going out on a limb."  
It was Ron's turn to scoff. "I think you're just saying that because you fancy her."  
Harry could feel a blush creeping up to his ears. "I do not!"  
"Do too!" Ron insisted. "You spend ALL your time with her! It used to be just the three of us, but then you insisted on including her! Even if she isn't dangerous, she's annoying, Harry!"   
"She isn't the one causing all the problems!" Hermione tried to say, but Ron interrupted.   
"Look, Harry, it comes down to this." He took a deep breath. "I don't trust her. I don't like her, and I don't trust her, and I don't want her around anymore."  
Harry scowled. "So what do you want me to do? Ignore her?"  
"Yes!" Ron burst out. "Look, I'm just sick of this. I thought we were friends, Harry. And yet you're putting yourself in danger just for HER, just because you have a stupid crush on her! I thought five years of friendship would mean more than a stupid crush!"  
"I don't have a crush on her, OK?" Harry was so angry he could barely think. What was worse, he wasn't sure who he was angry at. "Look, I'll stop hanging around with her so much if it makes you happy! I trust her, but I don't like her more than you guys! I just hung around with her because I feel sorry for her, OK? I don't have a crush on her, I don't even like her! Is that what you wanted to hear?"  
THUMP!  
The three whirled around at the noise. Olivia was standing in the doorway, her books scattered at her feet, her eyes wide in shock.  
"I-I-I forgot my bag…" she trailed off, still staring wide-eyed at Harry. She darted forward, grabbed her bag from where it had been sitting on one of the desks, and took off running out the door.   
Harry felt sick. So, apparently, did Ron; at least, that's what the look on his face was. Sick, and shocked.  
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said slowly, stretching his name out long. "If you knew-"  
He looked at Hermione, but she had turned away. "I'm going to go try and find her."  
Harry was speechless for a moment. "Herm, you know that I didn't mean that, not that way."  
"Yeah, I know. But she doesn't." Hermione gave him a pitying look, then walked out the door.  
Ron and Harry exchanged glances.  
"Harry, I'm sorry," apologized Ron.  
"Shut it." Harry snapped. "Look, you've always been my best friend. Always. But I want to be friends with Olivia too. She doesn't have anyone else."   
They stepped out into the corridor, silently heading for the Great Hall.  
When they reached the doors, however, there was a huge crowd of students blocking the way.  
"What's going on?" Harry asked one of the prefects, a girl from Hufflepuff his own age.  
"The Great Hall's filled with snakes!" She said dramatically, waving a hand at the doors. "Nobody can go in there, not even the teachers! The snakes are waist-high, and all of them deadly poisonous!"  
"What?" Harry managed to shove his way up to the key-hole, and peeked through.   
The floor was moving, It took him a minute to realize that the snakes were moving, the floor wasn't. The sky above the hall was brown again, and a soft hissing noise was resonating through the halls.  
"Potter," a voice called. Harry turned, to see Hermione and Ron standing next to Professor Trait, just beyond the crowd of students near the doors. He squirmed between the masses of bodies over to them.  
"What's going on, Professor?" he asked her.  
Her face was set in a look of resolve. "Come with me. We're going to figure all this out."  
She took off down the hall. Ron shrugged, and followed her.  
"Why do we have to come?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep up.  
"Because you and Harry are friends, and I can assure you that someone here has been trying to kill Harry. It will help me greatly if the three of you come along."  
"What about Olivia?" Harry asked.  
"Unimportant." Trait waved a hand as they arrived at her classroom. She swept open the door, herded them in, and locked it behind her. Then, she strode purposefully to her desk, and pulled out a torch. She lit it with a plastic light she produced from a pocket in her robe, and held it out to Harry and his friends.  
"This is a portkey. Touch it, so that we can get out of here." Trait said.  
"Where will it take us?" Ron asked.  
"To a carefully laid trap designed to catch the one who's been causing problems all year."   
The three teens exchanged glances: this is what they had been waiting for! They all reached out and hesitantly put a finger on the torch.  
There was a by-now-familiar jerk somewhere below Harry's navel, and the world swirled around him.  
And then they were in a small room. There were stone walls all around them, and a wooden door in front of them. Trait pulled the torch away from their grasp, and slid it into a holder attached to the wall. Other than the torch, which lit up the room with a eerie flickering light, the room was completely empty.   
"Here." Trait traced a circle on the floor with her wand. "Step in here, you'll be safer in here." She muttered a spell, and the circle glowed with golden light.  
Harry stepped gingerly into the circle, feeling a blast of cold air as he stepped over the line she had made. "Professor, who do you think has been causing these problems?"  
"I don't know," Trait said with a wry grin, but we'll soon find out. I've got several spells set up so that whoever it is will think the three of you are here all alone. It's too good for them to turn down, so they will come bursting through that door in a minute." She gestured to the door with her wand, as Ron and Hermione also stepped into the circle.   
After about half a minute, Trait frowned. "Something's not right." She gazed all around the room, though what she could see beyond stone walls and a thatched roof was beyond Harry. Then, her gaze rested on him. "You have your wands."  
Harry and Hermione nodded, but Ron looked stricken. "I forgot, I left mine in that classroom!"  
"Good," Trait said. "Harry, you hand me yours. We want whoever it is to think you're helpless."  
Harry stared at her. "Actually, if I gave you my wand, then I would be helpless, wouldn't I?"  
Trait thought about that for a moment. "I suppose you're right. You always were good at this kind of thing, hmm." It wasn't a question. She turned back to the door. "They should be here any moment now. Any minute now I'll find out who's been wrecking my plans all year long." Trait didn't seem to be talking to either of the three of them, so they kept quiet.  
A moment later, there was a warped sound outside, like a plastic zipper being very rapidly unzipped. And then, a voice called, "Alohomora!"   
The wooden door swung open very, very slowly. Outside, Harry could see enough to know that they were in the Forbidden Forest.   
And standing right outside the door was Olivia. Her wand was out, and her face was grim. Her glasses were gone, and somehow she seemed to be several inches taller.  
"What are you doing here?" Trait sounded annoyed. "You-" She cut herself off. "You're the one!" She raised her wand. "How smart. Right under my nose, of course I wouldn't see it. You're the one who has been causing these problems, sabotaging my plans!"  
Olivia stared her straight in the eye. And smiled.  
  
  
Author's Note: AUGH! This is NOT where I wanted to cut this chapter off! Oh well. Next chapter will be a doozy! Please review, or I might not get around to the next chapter for, say, another couple weeks?   
By the way, before you blame and flame me for being too obvious, or having too simple a plotline, wait for and read the next chapter. I won't say anymore: hee hee!   
Also, for those of you who like Malfoy, your chapter will come! If not next chapter then the one after that.   
Amethyst  
  
  
  



	7. Chapter Seven: The Young Goddess

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Chapter Seven: The Young Goddess  
  
Author's Note: Who is Olivia Gardener? Is she really the saboteur? Why are all these things happening? THIS IS THE PART WHERE YOU FIND OUT! Well, most of the answers are provided. Also, PLEASE REVIEW!!!  
Most of this part is dialogue between Trait and Olivia. It might get boring, but please read it carefully. A lot is explained here.  
  
  
Harry stared in shock as Olivia merely smiled at Trait. Both of them raised their wands slowly, not wanting to alarm the other.  
And then, the battle began.  
Harry had never seen a real Wizard's duel before, but he knew what was happening. The rapid exchange of spells was breathtaking. Both Olivia and Professor Trait seemed to have some sort of shield around them, blocking out most spells.  
"Stupefy!" Olivia shouted, holding her wand in front of her with both hands. Trait's shield held up against it, and she immediately returned with "Petrificus Totaliarus!"   
The battle was only a few moments long, though it seemed to last forever. Harry tried to push through the barrier he was behind- what he was going to do or who he was going to help he didn't know- but he was trapped. Finally, Trait summoned up all her strength, and yelled, "Ignis Borealis!"  
The room was filled with flames immediately. The very air seemed to be on fire, and Harry heard Olivia yelp as a wave of heat, ten times worse than the Divination classroom fires, flooded the room.   
It died away a moment later, and Harry, after blinking rapidly for a moment, was able to make out Olivia standing frozen with fear in a ring of fire. The flames around her were only waist high, but that was enough to completely trap the girl.  
Olivia stared at Trait, hatred in her eyes. But her words surprised Harry: "So, are you under the Imperius Curse, or are you just death-eater scum like the rest?"  
"Wait a minute!" Ron exclaimed. "I thought-"  
"Oh, shut your trap, Ron," Hermione snapped.  
Trait ignored Olivia and turned to Harry. "Finally," she said slowly, "I can kill you without any interference." She raised her wand.  
Harry suddenly remembered the dream, and knew what was about to happen. Even though time didn't slow down as it had while Harry was sleeping, the exact same events transpired.  
"Avada Kedavra!" Trait hissed, pointing her wand at Harry.  
The green jet shot out at him, and moments later…  
It rebounded somehow. He felt cold fingers wrap around his heart for a split second, and his vision turned red. Then, he was back to normal, and watching the deadly green light hit Olivia in the chest.  
She took a step back as it hit her, then recovered, and breathed a sigh of relief.  
"What the hell?" Trait ejaculated, snapping her gaze from Harry to Olivia.  
"You can't kill him without killing me first," Olivia said firmly. She reached back to her neck, and pulled out a long chain she was wearing like a necklace. On the necklace was a strange pendant: two silver bars about the thickness of Harry's index finger in an X, held together by a thick golden band.  
Trait turned to Olivia. "Who the hell are you?"  
Olivia gave her a cocky smile. "The Ministry of Magic calls me the 'Young Goddess.'"  
Trait swore. "So, Dumbledore himself couldn't be here this year. All the precautions I took to make sure his influence didn't reach here, and he sidesteps it all by sending his own granddaughter. Selene Marie Dumbledore. Well, well, well." Trait gave her a nasty smile. "Wait until Lord Voldemort hears that not only have I killed Harry Potter, but I have captured Dumbledore's weak link."  
Harry and Ron both stared open-mouthed at Olivia. No, Selene. It suddenly clicked together in Harry's mind: THAT'S what her eyes had reminded him of! He had seen Dumbledore's eyes gleam and glare in the exact same way. Why hadn't he seen it before? Without her glasses, her eyes were a perfect match to the old Headmaster's.   
"I wouldn't be fast to judge her as a weak link," Hermione called to the woman.   
Harry snapped his head around to stare at Hermione. "You knew?"  
"Yes, I knew," Hermione said in annoyance.   
Trait folded her arms. "Well, this is serendipitous, but not exactly helpful. Lord Voldemort ordered me to kill the boy there, but would be very angry at me if I killed Selene Dumbledore when I had her in my grasp."  
Olivia raised her head proudly. "If you kill Harry, I'll die too. My Grandfather has appointed me his Soul-Guard, by the power of this pendant."   
"Damn." Trait stomped her foot, and turned as if to exit the room. She whirled back around. "You know, Lord Voldemort may decide that killing Potter is worth your puny life."  
Olivia seemed about to jump forward, but she stopped at the edge of the ring of flames, and backed up a bit. "And I might decide that dying would be better protection than living."  
"Just what do you mean by that?" Trait asked, stalking back over to Olivia.  
"I mean that the last time someone tried to kill Harry and an innocent got in the way, he was given protection beyond anything Voldemort could comprehend." Olivia smiled. Again, that smile that wasn't really a smile, more a grim way of telling that she knew she was right.  
Trait froze as she took in this information. "Damn you!" She suddenly wrenched forward, through the flaming prison she had created. Olivia hadn't been expecting this; she didn't dodge in time. Harry barely saw the torchlight flash of something made of shiny steel…  
Trait stomped through the door, slamming it behind her. As it closed, it disappeared: only cold stone walls were left where the only entrance or exit had been.  
And Olivia… He watched, sickened, as Olivia clutched her shoulder. The jeweled hilt of a knife was sticking out from her shoulder blade, and a scarlet stain was slowly spreading across her shirt.  
The moment Trait had left, both the fire barrier and the one containing Harry and his friends disappeared. Hermione rushed forward to help Olivia as the small girl, now looking more helpless than powerful, sank to her knees, tears running down her cheeks and mingling with the blood staining her neck and arm…  
  
  
Author's Note: Hiya! Boy, big surprise, right? Well, next chapter, we find out EXACTLY who she is, why she's here, etc. Also, Malfoy comes into play! "YAY!"  
Tune in next time, for Chapter Eight!  



	8. Chapter Eight: Soul Guards and Sappy End...

Harry Potter and the Wizard's Granddaughter  
Chapter Eight: Soul Guard  
  
Author's Note: Soul Guard, and all spells used belong to ME! Also Olivia, Trait, and a bunch of other stuff that I won't mention here. However, Harry Potter and Co. DON'T belong to me, they belong to Monty Python. Or was it J. K. Rowling? Anyway, they belong to some really great British person, I can't remember who right now.  
Last chapter was short but intense, so this chapter will be long, slow, and full of explanations. Review if you like it! PLEASE! I mean it! I will not post any more if you don't review!   
Oh, and another thing. If you think it's boring to trap your characters in a small confined area for hours just for the purpose of having an emotional event between them, then… Well, I apologize in advance. But I had to do this, and if you read, you'll find out why.  
PG for language. (Malfoy has a dirty mouth.)  
  
Olivia sank to the floor, hand still closed about the dagger hilt sticking out from her shoulder. Tears ran down her cheek for a moment, then she leaned back, and dropped her hand.  
The dagger fell to the floor with a clatter.  
"It's alright, she didn't stab me, just swiped me," Olivia said breathlessly, closing her eyes.  
"That still looks pretty bad," Hermione said carefully, bringing out her wand. "Let me-"  
"Don't touch me." Olivia sat up abruptly. "I'm fine." She blinked slowly, then turned her head. "Where'd the door go?"  
"It disappeared," Hermione explained. "Olivia, I think Harry and Ron will want you to explain what's been going on. They still don't have a clue."  
Olivia glanced up at Harry, and her blue eyes were so ice-like that they sent a shiver up his spine. "I don't owe them any explanations, or answers." Then she sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit ticked off right now. Nearly getting spiked through the heart can do that to you."  
Ron looked like he wanted to laugh, but that expression died away quickly.  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
Olivia gave them that grim smile again. "Do you want the short answer, or the full one?"  
"The short one first, then the full one." Harry said, glancing around.   
"If you're worried about Trait or Voldemort coming back, don't." Olivia said quickly, noticing his glances. "She's going to get arrested the moment she gets back to the castle."  
"Good." Hermione said firmly. "Now, tell them who you are."  
Olivia sat up straight, leaned back against the wall, and hugged her knees with her good arm. "My name is Selene Marie Dumbledore. My mom's name was Olivia, so that's what most people call me." She took a deep breath. "I'm actually a year older than all of you, even though I'm a lot smaller. My grandfather says that I'm a magical genius." She wasn't boasting, just stating a fact. "I started going to Hogwarts when I was nine, and graduated in my third year. In Slytherin. My grandfather put me in Slytherin even though the Sorting Hat wanted me in Gryffindor, because there were still a lot of Dark Wizards back then, and people were safer in Slytherin. That's where I met Malfoy."  
"Malfoy!" Ron looked like he wanted to spit. "You two were friends?"  
"Actually, no." Olivia tried to laugh. "He's a little ass. But he isn't evil. His father is a Death Eater, but Malfoy's not."  
"How can you be sure?" Harry asked.   
"Because he saved my life once. I was there at Hogwarts under an assumed name, Marie Gardener, because-" She paused. "My grandfather has this thing about protecting me. You see…" She stopped again. Then she shook her head. "I'm… My mother was Dumbledore's only daughter. And… she and I were both illegitimate. At the ministry, I work in an obscure office, and most people only know me by my nickname, 'Young Goddess.' Only a few people know who I really am. Most people if they did know would ridicule me and my family for the rest of my life. And if any Dark Wizards found me, they might use me against my grandfather. Malfoy found out who I really was by accident. He was a first year then, and so were you. He protected me from Quirrel, who almost found out who I was too, by vouching for me. Of course, he's never let me forget that I owe him."  
Harry suddenly remembered Malfoy's words to Olivia after he had punched Crabbe: "That's two you owe me."  
"And if you graduated in your third year, then why are you back here again?" Ron asked.  
"When my grandfather realized that he wouldn't be able to be here at Hogwarts, and that Fudge," she said the name with intense hatred, "would be in charge, he knew that every Death Eater in the world with a reasonable alibi would be flocking here to try and kill you, Fudge, or otherwise help Voldemort rise to power. So he sent me." She stared Harry in the eye. "He appointed me Soul-Guard, Harry. Nobody can kill either of us with Avada Kedavra. They can't kill you with magic at all unless they kill me first. And if they do kill you through physical means, I'll die. So as long as I'm here, I'm sworn to protect you with everything I've got. Being able to see several years into the future helps."   
"The Divination class, with that exploding chair…" Harry suddenly remembered.  
"And the train!" Ron exclaimed. "That's why you left! You were helping to save it!"  
"The troll in the girl's dorm!" Harry exclaimed.  
"It was supposed to be in the boy's dorm, but Trait didn't have as good a control over it as she thought." Olivia smirked.  
"And the armor," Ron said.  
"And there was a lot of stuff we didn't know about," Hermione   
said, "like several times the food at dinner was poisoned. There were also a bunch of invisible portals that would have sucked us into a non-existent dimension if Olivia hadn't found and closed them. Not to mention the monster from the lake which ended up in Transfiguration classes a whole bunch of times. And there was the-"  
"But, if you can see years into the future, then why didn't you stop Trait from kidnapping us?" Harry interrupted Hermione before she could go on listing what seemed to be a never-ending list of dangers he had barely avoided because of Olivia's help.  
Olivia stopped smirking. "Number one, she didn't kidnap you. You went quite willingly with her. Number two, I was rather distracted at the moment, if you remember."  
Ulp. Harry suddenly remembered his harsh words about the girl, just before the incident. "I didn't mean that, Olivia. You know I didn't."  
Olivia nodded. "Don't worry about it." But she bit her lip and looked away. His words were forgiven, not forgotten.  
"So, when are we going to get out of here?" Ron asked, trying to be cheerful.  
Olivia raised her wand, then, after a moment's hesitation, lowered it again. "The walls are blocked with a whole bunch of spells and charms. If we did manage to break out, Trait would know immediately, and one of us would probably end up dead."  
Ron blinked. "Ooo-kay, then how are we going to get out of here?"  
Olivia let her eyes go blank a moment, then told him quite seriously, "Somebody will figure out where we are and try to rescue us in… eighteen and a half hours."  
"EIGHTEEN AND A HALF HOURS?!?!" All three of the others exclaimed at once.  
"Give or take," Olivia said amicably.   
All three of them groaned.  
"And we didn't even eat dinner before we left," Ron complained, slouching against the far wall.  
"The snakes!" Harry suddenly remembered. "The Great Hall was filled with snakes!"  
"A diversion," Olivia spat out, "to keep the teachers from realizing that we're gone."  
Eighteen and a half hours. Harry suddenly realized just how small the room, house, or prison, however you wanted to look at it, was, and how cold. The flickering torch didn't seem like it could last much longer; however, since they had their wands, it wouldn't be too much trouble if the torch went out.  
Olivia seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "Could one of you light your wands and put out the torch?"  
"Why?" Hermione asked.  
"I don't like fire. I'd rather have magic light than a torch."  
Hermione stood up and blew out the torch. A second later, she murmured, "Lumos." The room lit up.  
"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione asked, trying to look at Olivia's shoulder.  
"I. Am. Fine." Olivia glared at Hermione. "Leave me alone."  
And conversation ended there for the next few minutes.  
  
However, after the rush of adrenaline from being attacked and the shock of finding out who Olivia really was wore off, there wasn't much left but complete and absolute boredom.  
"Are you sure she was arrested?" Ron finally asked, breaking the pact of silence they had kept for the last few minutes.  
"Yes, I'm sure." Olivia stated. She had her knees curled up to her chest, and had laid her head back against the wall, eyes closed. Harry had thought she was asleep.  
"What's it like?" Harry asked, suddenly curious.  
"What?" Olivia looked at him, and he was encouraged, because the look was a lot less angry and annoyed than her last few glances had been.  
"Being able to see the future. I mean, I know Trewlaney is a seer, but when she gave her one prediction, she went into a trance and all. But you don't seem to do that."  
Olivia smiled, a genuine shy smile, instead of the smirks and grimaces she'd been using. "It's like… It's like a dream that you had when you were a kid, that you suddenly remember. It's a constant feeling of déjà vu, where you think about something you're doing and you suddenly say, 'Hey, I know how this is going to turn out.' It's like you've lived your life a thousand times over, and now know every detail that has ever happened to you."  
"Do you know if Voldemort will be destroyed?" he asked. "Or will he rise to power, and kill people, just like before?"  
"I could know, if I wanted," Olivia said slowly. Her tone of voice should have warned him, but he didn't take heed.  
"Why don't you want to know? I mean, it would be helpful to know if the entire world is going to come under an evil reign in the next few years. I wouldn't have to study so hard."  
"I don't want to know," Olivia said steadily, "because it doesn't work like that. My memory is like… like a book where you can't skip ahead a few chapters. You have to read it straight through. If I wanted, I could read the whole thing ahead of time. But I don't. If I tried to see that far into the future, I would see everything that happens. Everything." She stared hard at Harry. "I could look at you and see whether you ace your final exams, whether you graduate, what job you take, who you marry, whether you're happy or not. And then I'd see how you die. And I'd try to look away, and you'd still be alive, but all I could think about is how you were going to die, and I couldn't prevent it. I'd try to run away, but then I'd see someone else, and the first thing I'd think of is 'How do they die?' It then becomes an obsession, because I'd start to look at everyone and see only death. All I'd be able to do is look at someone and see them in pain, dying." She shook her head, hard. "It happened before to me. A death obsession isn't very nice. Not like that."   
"Well, gee, I feel like slitting my wrists now," Ron said sarcastically. "Please, Harry, stop with the stupid questions before I do."  
"You won't." Olivia grinned at him.  
"Won't what?"  
"Slit your wrists." She giggled. "You opt for an overdose of sleeping pills."  
"What?!?!" But Olivia was laughing now. It took Ron a minute to see the humor, but then he was laughing too. "Not really, right?"  
"Of course not," Olivia said cheerfully.  
"What time do you think it is?" Hermione asked. Nobody bothered to answer her.   
  
"Are you sure we can't get out?" Ron asked about twenty minutes later for the twelfth time.  
"I'm sure." Olivia gave her usual response, which had become just a instant reaction to Ron's voice.  
Harry yawned, and stretched his arms up. "I think we should probably get some sleep if possible."  
"Why, are you tired?"  
"Yes," Harry admitted.  
"So am I," Olivia replied, standing up. She paced for a moment, as if she didn't want to give in to the sleepiness, then sat down again next to Harry. "It's almost too bad Trait was arrested. I mean, if she hadn't been, at least we wouldn't be trapped here with nothing to do."  
Nobody quite agreed with that, but everyone kept quiet, as Hermione stood and held up her wand. "I'm going to turn out the lights now, right?"  
Ron and Olivia nodded, Harry waved for her to go ahead. She muttered the canceling spell, and sat down again as the room went completely dark.  
Trying to ignore the rumbling in his stomach, he stretched out on the floor. He heard Olivia sigh deeply, and then he heard nothing at all.  
  
He dreamed again.  
This time, though, it wasn't the familiar dream of barely avoiding death. It wasn't the old dream of hearing Voldemort's laughter as his parents died, either.  
This dream was the first non-nightmare he had had in a long, long time.  
He was standing in front of a cage, like something you'd see at the zoo. Olivia was inside, wearing a long, white dress, with her hair, ten times longer than normal, in a long braid wrapped on top of her head. Harry vaguely thought that she looked like a Greek goddess from his history books.  
"Let me out!" She was begging him to open the cage. And yet, there was danger all around. He couldn't let her out, because she'd get hurt. He had to protect her.  
And yet, he stared around him. All around him, there were cages. He distantly saw Ron and Hermione inside cages, as well as all the other Gryffindors. In one cage he thought he saw the shimmering forms of his parents, just as he had seen them the year before, on that horrible night when he battled with Voldemort.  
"Let us out!" They were all yelling at him.  
"I can't let you out, you'll get hurt!" He tried to explain.   
"Harry." He turned, and saw Olivia staring at him. She was older now, older than he was, and yet not very old. If his mind hadn't been clouded by the fact that he was dreaming, he would have said she was in her twenties. "Harry, let me out."  
"You'll get killed!"   
"Harry," Olivia said firmly. "You have to stop locking me up. You aren't alone any more." Her words stayed with him, echoing in his mind. A moment later, he reached forward, and touched the lock of her cage.  
He suddenly felt free, as if he had been the one caged up, and now his locks were broken.  
"Harry, you've been very brave to protect everyone. But you must remember that you aren't alone," the older Olivia was telling him. "You can protect them without locking them in cages. You can protect me, without shutting me off. I'm here to be with you." She reached out to touch his face with her long, delicate fingers.  
And she shimmered away. Harry suddenly knew that he was dreaming, and that with the realization of this he would wake up. He drew his blanket closer to him, trying to stay asleep, and yet he failed, as all people do.  
He kept his eyes closed, even after he was awake. He felt the warmth of his blanket on his left shoulder, and the contrasting cool winter air on his face.   
Hermione must have lit the torch again, which was a pretty good idea, because it gave enough light to see by without keeping anyone awake. At least, Harry could tell that Ron was definitely not kept awake by the light; his snores would have bested even Neville's loud rumblings. Hermione too was fast asleep, one arm stretched above her head, the other arm bent so that her cheek was resting on it.   
Brr. There must have been a draft somewhere in the confined building, because Harry could feel the cold winter wind licking at his face. It was a good thing he had a blanket- he could see Ron shiver in his sleep and roll o-  
Wait a minute.  
Harry turned back in his mind to process that train of thought again. Ron didn't have a blanket. He turned his head ever so slightly. Hermione didn't have a blanket.  
He slowly and carefully turned to look to his left.  
Olivia was quite comfortably curled up against him, her head resting on his shoulder and her left hand draped across his chest. And somehow in his sleep he had wrapped his arm around her, drawing her closer.  
His first reaction, unconscious, was to blush furiously. His second reaction, this time meditated, was to slowly pull away his arm. He didn't want to wake Olivia: from what the two girls had explained, it didn't sound like Olivia had gotten much sleep in the past few months. And so he slowly, inch by inch, moved his arm out from under her head…  
A tear ran down Olivia's cheek, and she clutched at the front of Harry's robes, trying to escape from some nightmare he couldn't see, some fear he couldn't understand…  
He closed his eyes again. He'd move, but only in a minute, once the nightmare had passed. After all, she was so tired, and so was he. And the warmth was nice. And, after all, even if she wasn't who she had said she was, she was so sweet-  
By the time *that* thought registered, and Harry jerked his arm away and sat straight up, Olivia was already awake and pacing restlessly, and Hermione was just beginning to yawn and stretch.   
  
Author's Note: I was going to end it there, but then… Nah. Let's get them out of this stupid trap, so the REAL plot can begin.  
  
He sat up, and caught Olivia's eye. She turned slightly red, and looked away immediately. So, she must have woken up before everyone else.  
"Good morning," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes with her fist. She yawned again, then slowly stood up. "How's your arm?"  
"Better," was Olivia's short answer. "Is Ron up yet?"  
"No, I don't think so," Harry answered, assuming that the question was directed to him as Hermione had turned away to search for her wand. He walked over to Ron's prone body, and nudged the redhead with his toe. "Hey, wake up."  
Ron rolled over, made a nasty face, and opened his eyes. "Damn, it wasn't a nightmare."  
"You might want to get up," Olivia said, leaning over to pick up the dagger from where it still lay abandoned on the floor. "We're going to be rescued soon."  
"By who?"  
"I don't know," she answered. "All I can see is a large dog, and a student." She held her wand up in front of her with her right hand, and clutched the dagger hilt with her left.  
"Why are you so tense?" Hermione asked. "If we're about to be rescued, and Trait has been arrested, you should be happy."  
"I'm tense because I've never been wrong." She cast a sidelong glance at Harry. "Yet."  
Then, very faintly, he heard a voice yell out something. A moment or two passed, then the voice sounded again.  
"Olivia!"  
Olivia grinned, and dropped the dagger. She held out her wand, and pointed it at the wall. "Lumos Orbis," she said softly. There wasn't any effect that Harry, could see, but Olivia looked satisfied.  
"What was that?" Ron asked.  
"I put a ring of light around this place," she explained. "Whoever it is should be able to see it, even if we're deep in the Forbidden Forest."  
A moment later they heard the tramp of feet through the woods, and then…  
"Olivia? Are you in there?"   
Ron groaned in recognition of the voice: Malfoy.  
"Duh I'm in here!" Olivia called nastily. "Geez you're thick sometimes. Get us out, now!"  
"Us?" Even through the thick stone walls Harry could sense Malfoy's evil grin. "What, you and your imaginary friends getting lonely?"  
"You idiot," Olivia snapped, "you know full well who's in here with me."  
"Are you sure you aren't just schizophrenic?"   
"GET US OUT!" Olivia lost her temper.  
"Alright then, smart ass, how do you expect me to do that? There aren't any doors or windows."   
Olivia sighed heavily. "Malfoy, just do something. Anything."  
They heard something scraping against the rocks, and then…  
"WHOA!" There was a thump. A moment later, "Damn it!" A few seconds later, "Did you know one of Hagrid's goddamn Skrewts was up here?"  
Olivia looked like she wanted to giggle. "Of course not. Besides, it was only a baby."  
A few moments later…  
"The wards are packed tight around this place. I don't know how to get you out. I can't exactly blow the place up, you know."  
Harry was shocked: Malfoy actually sounded apologetic!   
"Listen, would you bang on the wall or something so I know where you are?" Olivia asked.  
A moment later there was a slight knocking sound from the far wall. Olivia walked over there.   
"C'mon, get your wands, I need your help." Then, to Malfoy, "How about 'Finite Incantatum?' That might take care of enough of the wards to let you blow a hole in the wall or something."  
"Whatever, just hurry up. I'm missing breakfast to do this," he whined.  
Olivia sighed again, and raised her wand. Harry and Hermione retrieved their wands and did the same: poor Ron had forgotten his wand in the school.  
"Alright, now, let me see." Olivia ran her right hand along the wall as she walked around the room once. "Here." She stopped. "Right here. The wards have a bit of a weak spot."  
"Hurry it up, will you?" Malfoy's voice came again.  
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Are you guys ready?"  
Harry nodded, and lifted his wand so that it was just barely touching Olivia's. Hermione did the same.  
"Finite Incantatum!" The three of them called at once.  
There was a sound like nails scraping a chalkboard, loud and long, echoing through Harry's bones. It jolted him so badly that he almost pulled away from the spell, but a moment later…  
Malfoy called out a spell- what it was, Harry couldn't tell above the shrieking in his head.  
A moment later, something exploded, and the room went black.  
  
Harry woke up, to feel something cold and wet slowly dripping onto his forehead, dribbling down his nose and onto his chin, then dropping off again as another drop hit him, starting the process all over again.   
He opened his eyes to see a pair of silvery-gray eyes staring back at him.  
"Ah!" He sat straight up, bowling Malfoy over, and tried to stand, before he realized that his right leg was trapped under a large pile of rocks and wood. It was raining gently, which explained the dripping water. He stared at Malfoy kneeling in the mud and debris, who was scowling back at him.   
"What happened?" Harry asked as he groped around for his glasses. They were lying on the ground beside him; he straightened them out as best he could and slipped them on, clearing up the scene in his eyes.  
"The wards came down too fast," Malfoy said, standing and brushing his robes off. "Instead of blowing a hole in the wall, we blew it up."  
"Blew what up?"  
"Everything." Malfoy gave him a nasty smile. "Neatest thing I've ever seen."   
Harry turned his head to stare around him. Olivia and Hermione were watching Ron with worry in their eyes: his red hair was also stained with scarlet from a cut just above his left eye.   
Olivia stood up, and walked over to Malfoy, dynamite in her glare. "Y-y-you IDIOT!" she yelled angrily. The next second, she was hugging Malfoy with all of her might.  
Harry watched a bit jealously as a very confused Malfoy patted her on the back. She let go of him, and turned to sit down next to Harry.   
"We had better get back to the castle and explain what's going on to McGonagall and Fudge."  
  
The end of the year came too quickly for Harry. Dumbledore, the newly reinstated Headmaster, had immediately picked out and locked away the several other Death Eaters that had snuck into Hogwarts. Hagrid was soon back as teacher of Care of Magical Creatures. And not only that, but Harry did decently on his O.W.L.'s.  
And so life was back to normal. Until the day came to leave.  
Olivia rode with the three of them on the train back to King's Cross Station. They tried to talk, but all four of them were really sad about having to leave.  
Especially Harry. He stared at Olivia's blue eyes, and kept mentally berating himself over and over for ever having doubted her, for ever not including her as a good friend. Now their time together was up, and she'd be going back to work for the Ministry of Magic, while he returned to the Durselys.   
Finally, as they got off the train, Harry turned to say goodbye.  
"I guess this is goodbye," he tried to say, but Olivia stopped him.  
"Not really. Just, see you next year." She smiled at him.  
Something happened at that moment, that neither Olivia nor Harry would ever be able to explain. Neither could tell who started it afterwards. But the next minute, Harry had leaned forward and kissed Olivia on the lips.  
She blushed and grinned at him, as she stepped backwards back onto the train. Ron was staring slack-jawed, while Hermione couldn't stop giggling.  
"See you next year?" Harry asked.  
"Oh yeah, definitely." Olivia said.  
The train gave off a loud whistle.   
"But wait a minute!" Harry suddenly realized something. "Dumbledore's back at Hogwarts! Are you still going to be a student?"  
The train jerked, and Olivia stared at Harry over the top of her glasses, smiling a secret smile.  
"No," she said as the train started to slowly pull out of the station, "I'm going to be a teacher."  
And she stepped back into the compartment as the train slowly began its journey back to Hogwarts.  
  
  
AN: Hey! End of PART ONE! Don't worry, there is a whole 'nother plot line coming up! Stay tuned for the next chapter!  



End file.
